Recommendation ITU-T H.265 [1] (also known as HEVC) for “coding of moving video,” in Annex D, “Supplemental enhancement information” (SEI), and Annex E, “Video usability information” (VUI), describes the syntax for providing supplemental SEI and VUI information in a coded bitstream to enable a decoder to better map the decoded samples into a display.
In parallel with the MPEG/ITU standardization processes, the society of motion picture and television engineers (SMPTE) has also defined a number of Recommendations related to communicating metadata related to the color volume information for both the source video and a targeted display. For example, the SMPTE ST 2094 suite of documents (e.g., [5] and [6]) define metadata for use in color volume transforms of video content. These metadata may vary scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame. For example, such metadata may assist a decoder to present high-dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG) data on a display having a smaller color volume than that of the mastering display used for mastering the source images.
As used herein, the term “metadata” relates to any auxiliary information that is transmitted as part of the coded bitstream and assists a decoder to render a decoded image. Such metadata may include, but are not limited to, color space or gamut information, prediction parameters, reference display parameters, and auxiliary signal parameters, as those described herein.
While Annexes D and E of H.265 support a number of color volume related metadata, they do not carry all the required metadata for the most efficient display management of HDR content. In Jul. of 2016, in the joint collaborative team on video coding (JCT-VC) meeting in Geneva, three proposals [2-4] were submitted on how to describe content color volume information using SEI or VUI messaging. Some of these proposals were influenced by SMPTE ST. 2094 [5], but they were considerably different in scope.
In [2], a content-SEI message is proposed to signal content color gamut in 2D, which describes the actual color distribution of the video content. In VUI, the variable colour_primaries is used to indicate the container color gamut instead of true source color gamut [1]. In [3], multiple primary expressions and spatial regions are proposed to be associated with the identified source characteristics. In [4], a content color volume SEI message is proposed to indicate the color volume occupied by the content. It uses an (x, y, Y) description of the color coordinates and has slices of luminance Y with associated polygons for each slice. These proposals have multiple shortcomings such as: provide information of little use to most display manufacturers, may add significant overhead, and may require too much computational overhead to generate. To improve existing coding and decoding schemes, as appreciated by the inventors here, improved techniques for generating and communicating source color volume information are required.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.